ST Book 12, Chapter 8

Qin Yu led the two highest authorities of the Liu clan to believe that his martial uncle would aid them to kill Yan Gao – the only opposing power to their family, in exchange for top grade holy elemental stones. With enough stones, the elders can sway his martial uncle to commit the act. With his performance and the appearance of Lan Feng, the elders felt ever grateful towards Qin Yu, while the latter schemes to acquire more wealth beneath this meticulously laid façade…

…

“Senior, the target – Yan Gao, is a level 6 golden sword immortal and also is the Amber Moon’s Yan Clan’s great patriarch. Other than him, other people of the Yan clan aren’t worth mentioning. But, beware of one thing, senior. This Yan Gao is part of the Jade Sword School!” A middle-aged looking Liu Ming Han spoke.

“Jade Sword School?” The golden sword immortal Lan Feng frowned and narrowed his eyes, “What is this ‘jade sword sect’?” While the lofty immortal spoke, Qin Yu instantly felt annoyed at the elders, because previously they did not mention such thing.

“Yes, senior.” Ming Han continued, “The Jade Sword School is just a small faction within the immortal realm, but the master of the school is not an ordinary existence. He is a level 1 Mystic sword immortal.”

One must know that his own immortal sword puppet was just a simple level 9 golden sword immortal, while the other was a level 1 mystic sword immortal. Though the level gap between only differs by one, that one step of power, from level 9 golden immortal to level 1 mystic immortal, is huge. Most people would know that there is a bottleneck every level of a normal, golden or mystic stage, but the bottleneck between stages is so much higher than levels within a stage.

Ming Han hurriedly added, “But, rest assured, senior would not suffer any repercussions from killing Yan Gao, whom the master of the Jade Sword School is not too concerned about. Additionally, no one would know, this I can guarantee and swear in heaven’s name.” Even he could tell the senior, who was a top class golden immortal, would be hesitant to act against a level 1 mystic immortal.

“Oh, it that so?” Lan Feng swept his cold gaze upon Ming Han, and in an equally cold voice, his said, “Is there any more to be said? I advise you to make sure every matter is explained to me crystal clear, or else if calamity comes, I will not still my hand. At that time, you better be careful that I won’t directly wipe your family off, from the face of existence.”

Ming Han trembled involuntarily as the cold gaze swept over his body. He felt, he could simply suffocate from that menacing aura. After all, the senior could casually kill a level 6 golden sword immortal, so eradicating the Liu family was as easy as flipping his hand.

The clan leader who was silent all this time, suddenly spoke, “I just remembered another thing. I remember hearing about Sovereign Yu of the Immortal Realm commanded eighteen emperors and thirty-six rulers, and of the thirty-six rulers, the master of the Jade Sword School was supposedly one of them.”

Qin Yu was shocked to hear such a phrase, “Sovereign Yu”, so soon. After residing in the Immortal plane for such a long time, he had finally learnt of some of the pillars of the powers under Sovereign Yu.

His thoughts was interrupted by an angry shout, “Martial nephew! What is going on here?? How did all this lead to Sovereign Yu, now!?” Lan Feng’s former smiles had gone, only a dark scowl remained.

Qin Yu snapped out of his panicky state, and hastily bowed. “Martial uncle please allow me to inquire this.” His gaze turned cold and locked onto the two elders – Ming Han and the Liu clan’s clan leader, “Elders, now is not the time to twaddle on truth. You’d best not hide any more information about this matter anymore.” Though he didn’t shout, but each word was punctuated by the serious expression on his face.

Ming Han could feel the anger radiating from Qin Yu and the sword immortal above. Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, he quickly replied to quail the others’ wrath, “Esteemed guests, Sovereign Yu is a supreme figure of the immortal realm. Below him are eighteen emperors and thirty-six rulers, whom are all mystic immortal stage experts. The Jade Sword School master is one of the thirty-six rulers, but how could his majesty, Sovereign Yu, bother with the puny matters here? His majesty couldn’t care less about the minute matters here, so please rest assured, esteemed guests.”

“Mister Liu, I’m somewhat curious about this Sovereign Yu, could you enlighten me about this matter?” Qin Yu said abruptly.

At this, Ming Han’s facial expression looked somewhat dumbfounded.

As long as one is an immortal, how could not know of Sovereign Yu? He had suspected that Qin Yu had undergone closed-door training in a remote place since childhood, that the fellow did not know much about the outside world.

Nevertheless, Qin Yu had asked the question, so he gave an honest reply, “The immortal realm has about twenty stellar domains, of which there are three supreme figures who are: Sovereign Yu, Emperor Xuan and Emperor Qing. But their combined influence did not spread to less than half of the entire immortal realm.” Ming Han smiled. “The immortal realm has a number of mystic emperors, each occupying a territory with their own influence. Although their individual sphere of influence was less than the three supreme figures of the immortal realm like Sovereign Yu and the others, the combined influence make up most of the immortal realm.”

Qin Yu nodded to himself, he finally could see the picture a little more clearly. It seems that this immortal realm is quite chaotic. Even the three supreme figures of the immortals could only spread their influence to a small part of the total region.

The elder wasn’t finished. “For example, this Indigo Bay star field was also quite chaotic, since the Silver Stream galaxy belong to multiple powers. These powers included: Sovereign Yu, Emperor Qing, Emperor Xuan, other immortal emperors and even Devil Emperors. It was a total mess!”

While the elder spoke, Qin Yu listened quietly, he was like wandering blind man on regards to any matters of the immortal realm.

With this train of thought, Qin Yu interrupted, “Then that means Sovereign Yu is the most powerful of the three foremost figures of the immortal realm…”

Ming Han turned to stare at Qin Yu in mild surprise. “Mister Qin, this statement is incorrect. It seems to be true that you are usually undergoing closed-door training. You do not know of a variety of the simplest things of the immortal realm.

Qin Yu did not know how to respond, so he just muttered, “Eh……yes, that’s right.”

Ming Han sighed and spoke with a touch of reverence, “In terms of personal power, Sovereign Yu and the other two may be in the top few, but you cannot say that they are the three most powerful. In the immortal plane and immortal realm……there are numerous experts, many of which do not bother to occupy a large territory. Some of which could be super-experts, whose strength was comparable to Sovereign Yu and the other two.”

Qin Yu marvelled at that revelation, he understood that some like to be revered like imperial personages and some like to live unfettered, unattached and with freedom. Sovereign Yu and his lot of three are only regarded, on the surface, as the three most powerful, because the power struggles between them are visible. While, in terms of personal strength, there are a few that would match Sovereign Yu and the two other emperors.

Ming Han sighed again. “I still remember back in the days………when Emperor Ni Yang lead his campaign across the immortal realm, Sovereign Yu and the other two had been allied together on the opposing side……But, it was unfortunate, Emperor Ni Yang vanished since then.”

Qin Yu smiled inwardly to himself. Not many people knew about Emperor Ni Yang’s death.

“Emperor Ni Yang was indeed very powerful. It is said that, his power could suppress Sovereign Yu and the like, however……He was defeated once, just once. That glorious battle shook the very pillars of existence in the entire immortal plane. It was that great of a battle!” Ming Han was the great patriarch of a relatively large clan, so he knew about many events of the immortal plane.

“Emperor Ni Yang was defeated? But, by whom?” Qin Yu had to satisfy his growing curiosity. He knew who Emperor Ni Yang was: “The fellow was a level 8 mystic immortal and known to be the strongest sword immortal in offense. The fellow practiced the sword art of the ‘Heaven Sundering Sword Technique’, while wielding the divine weapon – ‘Sky Piercer’, and adorned by the divine armour – ‘Black Snow’. How could he be defeated?”

“That’s right, because that battlefield was in our own ––––– Indigo Bay star field!” Ming Han cried out at a higher octave that emphasized the elder’s own excitement as he recalled that battle.

Ming Han puffed up his chest and proclaimed with pride, “The one who defeated Emperor Ni Yang was none other than the most respected super expert of my home – Indigo Bay star field. That super expert is the absolute in the top few of the entire immortal plane, known as ‘Emperor Yin’!”

“Emperor Yin?” It was the first time, Qin Yu had ever heard of this name before.

“Indigo Bay star field is at the boundaries of both the devil realm and the immortal realm, but neither party dares to openly attack each other in fear of offending Emperor Yin. In the devil and immortal realms, no one, absolutely no one dares to show any disrespect to Emperor Yin!” Ming Han chided.

Qin Yu could not help but feel that this Emperor Yin is a third deterring power. With the presence of Emperor Yin, the Indigo Bay star field would not fall into chaos.

“Emperor Yin does not bother with the power struggles, but prefers to live in his home world. A planet with extremely dense elemental energy, known as the Yin Emperor planet. Originally, the planet had a different name, but everyone had forgotten it, now it is simply called the Yin Emperor planet.” Ming Han had a far-off look, his eyes aflame with clear veneration and admiration.

Qin Yu also felt somewhat apprehensive towards this Emperor Yin. For starters, to be able to defeat Emperor Ni Yang was a feat known only to a powerful figure of the top three in the immortal realm. In addition, that individual was not greedy or desired ruling power.

“The Yin Emperor planet has experts as common as clouds in the boundless sky. Many mystic immortal friends of Emperor Yin, as well as many Emperor Yin’s disciples, reside on that planet. There are also many visiting admirers and experts that frequent the Yin Emperor planet. Though it is only one planet, but no one……no one dares to offend or tread heavily there.” Ming Han sighed with praise, “Both, Amber Moon and Yin Emperor Planet, are planets, but their prestige are like comparing an ant to heaven.”

Qin Yu snickered. How could Amber Moon be compared to Yin Emperor Planet?? Impossible. The other had countless mystic immortals, how could these two planets be compared?

That planet was like a hidden gem among countless basest metals. A place with conceal talents and powerful experts.

“I hear that on the Yin Emperor Planet, one must be at least a mystic immortal, or else one would have to live humbly……otherwise……” Ming Han smiled momentarily. “Even Sovereign Yu and the like had once go to greet Emperor Yin, but……well…that was just something I heard of. I do not know whether it was true or not.”

People generally have a sense of belonging as part of a faction, community or such. Even from the tone of voice from Ming Han, one could detect that unfettered pride to know that his own star field – Indigo Bay, produced such a fearsome fellow known as Emperor Yin.

Qin Yu was also affected by Ming Han’s infinite admiration that he promised himself. “In the future, when I have the opportunity, I must go check out this Yin Emperor Planet.” Perhaps when he’s found his sworn brothers and figured out the matter with Li’er, he would take his brothers to visit this yin emperor star.

“Whether it is Emperor Yin or Emperor Yu, even the eighteen emperors and thirty-six rulers are figures of immense power. They are all far above golden immortal like us.” But, Ming Han showed a self-deprecating smile. “Mister Qin, do you know how many mystic immortals are there in our silver stream galaxy? And, how many golden immortals are there?”

Qin Yu shook his head in denial. “I do not know.”

“In the entire silver stream galaxy, of all the people in it there is only one mystic immortal and that is the Jade Sword school master. Amongst those countless people, there are tens of thousands of golden immortals. Now, do you know the gap between golden immortals and mystic immortals?” Ming Han chuckled lightly.

Even the taciturn Qin Yu was shocked at this revelation. “What about normal immortals?”

“Normal immortals?” Ming Han repeated and paused. “In any one planet with life in the immortal plane, would have thousands if not tens of thousands of normal immortals. If it were the entire immortal plane, normal immortals are countless! You wouldn’t even want to count them! That is how many there are – so many, that they are like a drop of water in an ocean!”

Qin Yu also crunched some of the statistics and found the number to be exponentially and incredibly high.

“Well, honourable senior, Mister Qin, do you now know how lofty and superior immortal emperors are? So how could killing one Yan Gao of the golden immortal stage matter to the mystic immortal of the jade sword school master?” Ming Han proceeded to chuckle.

Finally, Lan Feng mouthed lightly, “Martial nephew, you should to lead the guests out. About this Yan Gao, I will prompt take the fellow’s life.”

“Yes, martial uncle.” Qin Yu bowed curtly then proceeded to lead the elders out of the bamboo garden. During the walk out, Ming Han asked Qin Yu to help quicken the completion of this task.

Once the duo had finally left the premise, Qin Yu and Lan Feng quickly entered the enclosed cultivation chamber within the manor.

Within the hidden cultivation chamber.

Qin Yu was sitting cross-legged, while his sword immortal puppet – Lan Feng, stood aside motionlessly. Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan stood outside as the gatekeepers of the chamber. Qin Yu immediately issued a command, “Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan. From now on, you will exercise caution while guarding the hidden chamber’s exterior. If there are any important events, notify me using soul communication through your mind.”

Shuo Yan and Zang Yuan bowed in acknowledgement. “Yes, master.”

While sitting, Qin Yu looked inwardly with his mind’s eye and promptly entered his soul fused meteoric tear. Immediately after, his conscious flew into the core of the sword puppet. Soul separation; it is a skill that required the user to be at least at the Dongxu stage. It meant that his soul would be fused into the Yuanying. Qin Yu’s level of comprehending the depth of practice path has allowed him to use soul separation with ease, and also view his internal sectors with ease as well.

Separating from his body, his soul quickly entered the interior of the immortal sword puppet.

Normally, he need a thought or action within his consciousness to control each movement of the sword immortal puppet. Once his soul had entered the puppet, controlling it would be like controlling his own body, making attacks, defence and movement sharper and distinguished.

Qin Yu felt around his new vessel and could not help but lament at the prowess of its creator – Uncle Lan. “This immortal sword puppet’s body is incredibly tough and resilient and yet supple and elastic to the touch….”

Qin Yu (Lan Feng), immediate immersed his soul force with the world and applied the teleportation technique, then instantly vanished from the chamber.

And his original body had also vanished from the hidden chamber. His original body had already been stored within the Nine Swords Immortal Mansion. Thankfully, no one was around to witness the scene where the hidden chamber was completely empty.

Qin Yu’s original body may be tough as an immortal, but it was far less resilient than the immortal puppet. Just the feeling of possessing the puppet, he marvelled at the strength of its body, and thought it must be comparable to divine rank equipment. Its toughness wasn’t a joke!

…

In the late night sky above Liu Feng city, a shadow stood above its air space.

“Immortal class swords can change its shape and size, which means this body could also change…..” With that thought in mind, the puppet’s body instantly grew about five to six centimetres, while a long cut of a scar appeared on the puppet’s face. “Since the body is so powerful, then I presume it can fly at high speeds as well.” Qin Yu had a toothy grin, as he tested out his new toy.

In the night sky of Liu Feng city, the puppet’s body shuddered and vanished, the air around its original position quivered and rippled.

It may have been an instant but it was purely based on flying speed and not by teleportation!

Qin Yu sighed in praise, “This immortal sword puppet’s body is at least a thousand times stronger than my own body and speed is at least ten times of my own…” As soon as he was done, he resumed a taciturn expression, planning his next move.

From his vantage, he could clearly see that this Yan Shan city was much larger then Liu Feng city. “It seems the palaces of the Yan clan are much more luxurious and there are more subordinates as well.” He noted all the distinctive features of headquarters of the Yan clan, as well as any details, paths and overall size of the clan’s land.

It was still early night time.

The entire Yan clan’s headquarters was lit, most people were at home or meditating, but some disciples were wandering the lively streets of the city, exploring the nightlife. Pairs of armoured guards continuously weaved around the clan’s land – patrolling and unaware.